I can’t believe it’s time to say that already. This past year has just flown by for me. I have had so much fun with you and Daddy. It’s hard to believe that just one year ago you were a mere 5.5 pounds and now you’re just about 25 pounds of constant motion.

The last month seems like a flurry of activity to me. We were pretty busy. We continued our Mommy & Me swim class that the YMCA. You certainly do splash more now than when we started. You even splash constantly during your baths. It’s fun to watch you enjoy it so much.

We just got back from your first big vacation – a cruise. We went to the Western Caribbean and you had a great time. Every day they had time in the morning for the little ones to have play time sponsored by Fisher Price. Each day there were different toys to play with. Best of all, we could check them out and take them back to our stateroom. There were some really neat toys there as well as some that you just weren’t interested in. It was a fun way to spend part of the morning.

I think your favorite part of the ship was the baby pool. It had a whopping inch and a half of water in it and you crawled all over every inch of it. You splashed a lot and Daddy splashed you a lot too. You really enjoyed your time in there.

You also really enjoyed the food. We decided that since you were almost a year old this was the perfect opportunity to introduce you to new foods. If you didn’t like them no big deal because there was lots more to eat on the ship compared to home. As it turns out, you love everything. Daddy and I are thrilled that we don’t have a picky eater on our hands. You especially love bananas, bread, pasta and French fries, but show me a little one who doesn’t. You also really enjoyed eating shrimp at dinner. You definitely get that from me, as it is my favorite food. Daddy is also a big fan so you were bound to love it. As a result I think I have figured out what you will be taking to daycare for breakfast and lunch going forward. Daddy and I are so happy that we don’t need to buy more babyfood. I think you are too as you really only want to eat things that you can eat yourself.

Right now you love nothing more than to sit and play with paper. Oh my goodness the excitement that comes from having mulitiple pieces to sit and play with!! You have even taken a piece of paper out of the office trash can and crawled away with it just to play. We definitely heard you coming that night. You are also not so stealthy when you are upstairs and you crawl with a maraca in each hand. It’s fun to hear you coming down the hall with them.

You have mastered the art of crawling, pulling yourself up, cruising along furniture and standing alone. The standing alone is fun to watch because you really don’t realize that you’re doing it. You are usually standing at a piece of furniture and you pick up a toy and just start playing with it. All of a sudden you are just standing there without holding on to anything. Other times you just decide its time to clap. These are fun times because when you do it you waver back and forth to keep your balance. It usually results in you landing on your bum and you giggle every time.

You are truly a joy in my life. It is impossible to imagine life without you. We have our own special morning routine during the week. The neat thing about it is that you know what the routine is and move through it with me for fun and laughs.

Daddy and I are looking forward to another fun year with you. It should be fun as we have all summer to spend at the park, a trip to Disney World in the fall and then the holiday season will be upon us again. I think that this year you will really get into things and have lots of fun with everyone.

Happy birthday to the best gift I ever received.

Love, Momma

Pasta, how fun!!!

I guess the most exciting thing was that you had your very first Christmas and that meant a bunch of Christmas celebrations. When you have such a big family part of the fun is spreading the holiday fun out as long as possible. The fun for me this year was watching you play with the bows. Holy cow all those bows and so little time to see that they were all covered in baby drool. You got some very nice gifts and this year your favorite toy is this. You love to hold a ball in each hand and bang them together, and you have discovered that you can turn the little flower on the front with your feet when your hands are busy banging the balls together. It’s a lot of fun to watch you play with this toy. Thanks so much to Aunt & Uncle Sun for getting it for you.

The neatest thing for us was that on Christmas day you rolled from your tummy to your back, on your own, for the first time. We have been working with you on this for quite a while and all of a sudden you decided to give us a treat and do it on your own. You were mighty proud of yourself too.

You also got to spend some time with Bobbi & PaPa as well as with Uncle Danny, Aunt Lorrie, Maiah, Zoie and Evan while Momma and Daddy took a much needed vacation. We went to see Mickey Mouse and his friends. We did promise you that the next time we go you will be going with us so you weren’t too upset this time around. You had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone while we were gone. Momma and Daddy did miss you lots which had to be evident by the fun stuff we brought back for you.

You have become much more vocal in the past month. You sometimes sound like you’re saying “Hi!” and other times you just like to make as much noise as possible. To be fair, you come by it honestly. Your father likes to make noise often as well.

Your sleeping habits are really great. I only have to get up about once a night, some nights, to “re-bink” you. I’m out of bed less than a minute to give you your binky and tuck you in again. Not bad when you consider how many nights you sleep through the night. I’m really enjoying getting more sleep!

I’m thinking the sleeping so well may have something to do with you eating three meals a day. Your typical day is a bottle around 7:15am, cereal around 9:00am, lunch around noon which is usually one or two containers of stage 2 veggies and/or fruit. You’ll have your second bottle about 2pm and dinner with Momma and Daddy. Dinner is usually cereal again (you just love your cereal) and usually a stage 2 dinner like turkey & rice or chicken & apples. You have your last bottle between 8m and 9pm and then it’s off to dreamland for you. You are such a great eater, you are even a not-so-mess eater which makes Momma and the ladies at daycare very happy.

I am looking forward to the next month because we are hoping that our training will continue to pay off and you’ll figure out how to roll from your back to your belly and perhaps figure out the whole crawling thing as well.

Your personality is really starting to come through. You are such a happy and content baby who everyone loves to spend time with. Especially me.

Love, Momma

You started off the past month by contracting bronchiolitis. It was not fun for any of us while you were sick. You had to have nebulizer treatments four times a day. We have since worked you down to once a day so you are improving. We’ve also been battling the eternal baby runny nose. Daddy has a clever way of cleaning it out so you stay a bit clearer as a result. We just can’t have a crusty kid! Next week we go back to the pediatrician for what we hope is the last follow-up appointment. Unfortunately you will also be getting the second part of your flu shot that day too.

You are doing so well at sitting and playing. The ladies at daycare love that you are so content to sit and play. This frees them up a bit for the more high maintenance babies. We like it too because it’s fun to watch you discover something new on a toy you’ve been playing with for weeks.

Bathtime has moved from the original baby tub in the kitchen sink to the new inflatable ducky tub that goes in the bathroom tub. You love your bath. Playing with the hula ducky (Thanks Bec!) keeps you occupied while Momma does the cleaning. When you’re all done and need rinsed you try to catch the water that falls over you from the sprayer. Sometimes we just sit and play with the water for a bit.

You have been doing really well at eating your veggies and now fruit. Although cereal remains your fave. Especially now that we have the kind with bananas in it! Last night I gave you six of the Gerber puffs that are sweet potato flavored. It took you a while to figure out how to pick up something so small. Then it turned out that I needed to put it in your mouth for you, as you just couldn’t manage it on your own. It was an odd sensation for you because you kept working it around in your mouth, but it would always end up coming out a few times before it dissolved in your mouth. Then you seemed puzzled as to where it went. I think we’ll try it again tonight with another six puffs.

Jaxon has also become the target of your curiosity. You like to reach out and touch him anytime he’s close to you. It’s really fun to watch the two of you interacting. He has no clue what he’s in for when you become mobile.

A note on that, when are you going to have the urge to move on your own? You have zero desire to even roll over. We work with you to try to get you to do it and some days it seems that you get the hang of it. But you still don’t do it on your own. We aren’t worried, you are going to move when you’re good and ready to. And I’m sure when it happens we’ll remember the days when you couldn’t and wonder why you decided to move.

In the past month you have perfected what we call the “Silent Laugh”. You get very excited and you raise and lower your arms with force and you open your mouth like this…

…but NO sound comes out at all. Every now and then you will let out a little giggle while doing this, but it’s not very often. We start to laugh because we think the “Silent Laugh” is just hysterical and this makes you “laugh” even more.

The neatest thing in the past month was taking you to see Santa Claus. He was beautiful; he was dressed like Father Christmas. When we were in line he came back from his break and stopped to talk to each child in line. You were pretty tired at this point and Daddy was working hard to keep you from nodding off. Santa came up to you and all he wanted was a smile. It took a bit, but you eventually gave him a big smile. He was thrilled. Then when it was your turn to sit on his lap (I was holding my breath because I didn’t want to have that child that screamed) you just looked up at him and gave him another beautiful smile. It was wonderful. I’m hoping that next year you feel the same way about him!

I am very much looking forward to your first Christmas. I know that you have no idea what it’s all about. But for me the joy will come from just watching you interact with your family. I already have the best gift ever.

Love, Momma

She is currently eating one tablespoon of the rice cereal mixed with water in the mornings. Next week we will add another feeding just before bedtime.

Here’s a look at her first taste….